The film was written and produced by Animal Planet senior vice president of development Charlie Foley, who is actually the same person responsible for creating Whale Wars, which is, of course, on the opposite end of the spectrum of reality.

(Interestingly, when he was approached to return to the network, he agreed to take the job only if its new president, Marjorie Kaplan, would let him develop Whale Wars. The full story of the show’s creation is in my Playboy article.)

In an interview with the New York Post, Foley said the mermaid special “is certainly using real science to inform, to ground the story and as a springboard into imagination.”

If there’s any doubt about its veracity, the NOAA even released a statement insisting, “No evidence of aquatic humanoids has ever been found.”